The transformation of the senior Cape Cobras batsman Omphile Ramela owes much to his renewed self-belief, but also to his apt game-plans, said Paul Adams, the Cobras coach, and Justin Ontong, the skipper.

Ramela has blossomed in his past four first-class games by scoring three centuries. His latest was a surprisingly brisk 112 in 238 minutes off 197 balls for South Africa A against India A. It was his maiden four-day match for South Africa A. Ramela struck 12 fours and three sixes in his splendid innings. Adams said his 129 on his 27th birthday against the Chevrolet Warriors was a turning point as it bolstered Ramela’s self-confidence. He is a strong character and that century revealed the need for a peculiar structure that Ramela understood. Ontong said an impressive feature of Ramela’s four-day approach is that his game-plans are so good. He decided before the tour to India A that he needed to rotate the strike against the spinners while not allowing them to pressurize him. His strike-rate of 56.85 against India A in his 112, bears testimony to the fact that he did not allow himself to get bogged down by the slow bowlers. Ramela’s contributions in his last four games are 129, 202*, 14 and 112. “It is important that he retains his level of consistency,” said Ontong. The century at the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad in the first unofficial test between South Africa A and India A has underlined Ramela’s credentials as a possible future South African player. Ontong said there was no doubt about his potential before the century against the Warriors, but the industrious Ramela worked tirelessly in the nets in tandem with the Cobras batting coach Salieg Nackerdien, and particularly erased any flaws he still might have had in his match strategy. That proved to be essential to his improved performances.